- Describe the illness experience of caregivers and how it is impacted by the art therapy
intervention.

- Describe the caregivers' current health-related quality of life and life meaning prior
to pediatric patients initiation of bone marrow transplantation for cancer.

- Determine the effect size for calculating the sample needed for a randomized clinical
trial.

OUTLINE: Caregivers undergo art therapy over 60 minutes once a week for 6 weeks. Each
session comprises developing trust through the expression of support, affirmation, and
collaboration; creating intimacy through attunement; exploring affective states; integrative
processing through the creation of an autobiographical narrative; and identifying
opportunities for continued exploration and resources that support the client, should that
exploration become necessary.

Caregivers also complete a Meaning of Life Questionnaire and a Family Quality of Life Scale
at baseline and at the end of week 6.

Inclusion Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

- Family caregiver identified by the patient's physician as most involved in the
patient care including, but not limited to, the following:

- Mother

- Father

- Grandmother

- Grandfather

- Aunt

- Uncle

- Older sibling

- One caregiver per pediatric patient

- No caregivers who are part of an institutional system and are temporarily fulfilling
the custodial role of the patient (i.e., foster parents)

Name

Location

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